Nolene said " In doing interviews with folks in our legal department one
request came up several times --- that was to be able to track all of
the prior names and permutations of the various corporate entities under
our corporate umbrella" and asked " I was wondering if any software
already existed to do this?"

What you want is a thesaurus system; this will allow you to set up a
Preferred Term (current name of a corporate entity, with Alternate Terms
(previous names), where the use of any Alternate Term will bring you to
the Current Term.

Check out the Web site of the American Society for Indexing, under the
heading "Thesaurus Management Software" (URL
http://www.asindexing.org/site/thessoft.shtml). The introduction states
"If you're thinking about using database software you already have, or
even building a thesaurus using word processing software, DON'T. Even a
small thesaurus will represent a very large investment of time and
intellectual effort. Software which will automate the clerical and
repetitive tasks is available for a cost that's very reasonable when you
consider the true cost and value of the tool you will be producing."

The page then lists a number of systems.

Good luck.

Fred
===================================================================
Frederic J. Grevin
Deputy Commissioner and Chief Information Officer
The City of New York,
Department of Records
Email: [log in to unmask]
Land phone: 212.788.8615
Cell phone: 347.436.5360
Fax:  212.788.8614
www.nyc.gov/records
31 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
USA

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